Forums → Art, Music, and Writing → iMogwai's stuff, and some things.

Haha, I got some good laughs at those comics. ^0^

That Pivot animation is so smooooooth man, what FPS did you animate it at?

The first poem was a bit too much rhyming for my taste, but it's still good. I enjoyed the rhyming rhythm more in the second one. They're both good though.

That Pivot animation is so smooooooth man, what FPS did you animate it at?

The first poem was a bit too much rhyming for my taste, but it's still good. I enjoyed the rhyming rhythm more in the second one.

think I understand. I think the rhyming sounds a lot better if every second line rhymes, rather than when you put the two rhyming lines next to each other.

How you struggle as you your last breath take,

I like how sometimes you rhyme and sometimes you don't. Keep it up. And the bullet in your animation makes it look like the bullet fell out of the gun.

And the bullet in your animation makes it look like the bullet fell out of the gun.

"Finish your veggies, Billy,
or you wont get dessert!"
"But mom, don't be silly,
They're the worst thing on Earth!"

But his mother always won,
And she never understood,
So Billy grabbed his gun,
And finished the veggies for good.

I forgot to mention this in my first post, but I got the gun, as well as all imagines that did not look like crap, from a site called droidz.org. They've got a bunch of .STK files that can be used when animating in Pivot.

as well as all imagines

I wrote something else. I call it "Meh". I'd explain why, but meh, CBA.

<><><><><><><><><><>
Meh.

I get these moments when I simply don't care,
It happens more now than before, it's not even rare,

I leave all my worries behind,
And with them, my dreams and wishes,
No thought of work or money in my mind,
No thought of my unwashed dishes.
Nor any goals or ambition,
So what if I fail, is it really a big deal?
So what if my life is just repetition?
To aim for greatness has lost its appeal.

I am not complaining or hoping for pity,
And I'm sorry if you misunderstood,
This state of temporary apathy,
Feels pretty ****ing good.
<><><><><><><><><><>

<><><><><><><><><><>
I don't know

We have more answers than ever before,
But we do not have them all,
Yet we tell ourselves we know even more,
Because ours egos are anything but small.

Never more educated nor foolish than now,
We never admit to not knowing, we don't dare,
Too dumb to say "I don't know,"
Too arrogant to say "I don't care."

People have reputations to uphold,
Always blending in with society,
When speaking is silver and silence is gold,
It leaves the world with little variety.
<><><><><><><><><><>

I was bored, so I started writing a story. It was supposed to be a pretty short story, but it doesn't seem like it's going to be that short. It's a story about an adventurer in a medieval setting. Perhaps sometime, if I manage to finish it and it's kinda long, I'll make a site and put the story there to make it easier to read it if you're a new reader. If so, I'll probably have a link on my profile. I'm just saying this now so it will be on the first page if it actually does happen.

Oh, and the story is supposed to look like it's written by the adventurer himself. So it is kind of "casual" or something.

The Amulet of Something Something

Chapter 1: I Became an Adventurer.

Hello there. Wait, that's not a good way to start a story, is it? How about "Dear reader." I don't know, really. But then again, I've never been one to do things by the book, no pun intended.

Hello there it is. So, yeah, hello there. I am Nathan, and I'm an adventurer. If you're reading this, then you were either really bored and had nothing better to do, or you're interested in that creepy silver amulet with the skull on it. In case you actually were bored and have no idea what amulet I'm talking about, don't worry; it'll become clear if you just read my story. That caught your attention, didn't it?

Well, I'm going to start from the beginning. That seems like an appropriate place to start. I was at a tavern in Allotropolis, studying, writing poetry, having philosophical discussions with great scholars... You're not buying this, are you? Fine, I was drinking until I couldn't see straight, then I drank some more. It was great, but after a few weeks of drinking, only interrupted by the occasional bar fight, I found myself in need of both money and excitement. Usually when I need either, I sign up as a hired sword. The city's full of criminals, so it's not uncommon that noblemen need a few extra guards. Well, this time I decided to go for something a little more dangerous. A couple of adventurers had arrived a few days ago, and were asking questions about some kind of artifact. The amulet of something something. I wasn't paying attention to the details, I wasn't exactly sober, but I knew it was valuable. I decided to join them, so I walked up to their leader. It's not like I could find it myself anyway. I'm not quite sure how I knew he was in charge though, maybe it was the moustache. It was a pretty impressive moustache and it was practically screaming "I'm in charge."

The conversation that followed sounded something like this, and let me remind you, I did not bother to sober up before I approached them.
"Hey there, uh, I heard you were looking for... That amulet thingie..." I said.
"Yes, we are. And I suppose you have some 'valuable information' to sell us?" Mr. Moustache said. Yeah, that's what I'll call him for now, 'cus giving away his real name would be a spoiler and stuff. "Well, you're too late."
"Oh, yeah, I know some stuff, but you know, I got a better offer," I said. "I wanna, uh, go with you. When you look for it."
"You? This is a dangerous quest, and we wont have time to look after some drunk fool." Mr. Moustache said in a way that made me want to punch him in the face. Really arrogant.
"Hey! I, uh... I-I'll have you know that, uh... I'm only, uh... I'm only drunk when I've been drinking," I stuttered. As I said, I was not sober. Not even close. Anyway, some of the people in the tavern laughed, and Mr. Moustache rolled his eyes like a nobleman's spoiled brat or something, but that's when I got a great idea.
"Oh, okay, I guess you don't need help getting past the defenses, then," I said.
"We've gotten past traps before, I think we'll be fine," Mr. Moustache said. That's when I faked a laugh. It was a pretty good fake laugh too, I think. Though, I was drunk, so I could be wrong. Either way, it worked.
"What I'm talking about is much worse than traps," I said, with a grin on my face. "Are you a superstitious man? What would you say if I told you that the, uh, amulet thingie was protected by dark magic, capable of separating your soul from your body if you as much as blink at the wrong time?"
"Sir, that's obviously bull****," the archer next to Mr. Moustache said.
"Well, let's not take any unnecessary risks," Mr. Moustache said. "If what you say is true, you can come with us, and you will get a share of the profits. If it is not, you will not get anything. Do we have a deal?"
"Sure do, sir," I said, and reached out to shake his hand. "The name's Nathan."
"I am Sir Reynard, and we will leave tomorrow. I expect you to be sober," The man formerly referred to as Mr. Moustache said, before he and his group walked away. Without shaking my hand, might I add. A rather rude thing to do. So I did what any man would do in my position. I rotated my hand 90 degrees, raised it, and lowered all fingers but one. The archer looked back at that exact moment, most likely because he was trying to convince Reynard that bringing me along was a bad idea. I lowered my hand immediately. I don't think he noticed, but then again, my judgement was clouded by watered down beer and the most toxic moonshine money can buy.

Chapter 2: I Regretted Becoming an Adventurer.

When I got to the tavern the next day, they hadn't arrived yet. I started to wonder if he'd said that just to get rid of me. I decided to wait around for a while, though, just in case. Let me tell you, being in a bar is **** boring if you're not drinking. After what felt like an eternity, but was really about half an hour or so, I decided to order a beer. Just as I did, who do you think stepped into the tavern? That's right. Mr. Moustache, AKA Reynard, and his merry band of ********. I walked over to them, and we walked outside, without saying a word. I guess they weren't merry at all. They had three horses and a wagon waiting outside. Yes, a wagon, not a carriage. Two horses drew the wagon, and one was for Reynard. Apparently, he was too important to travel in a wagon. That guy really started to get on my nerves. Now that I think about it, his moustache wasn't that impressive either. It was a silly moustache.

The rest of us got on the wagon. It smelled almost as bad as the horses that drew it. The fact that no one had said a word up until this point didn't exactly make me feel welcome, so I decided to break the silence.
"Where exactly are we going?"
"We'll travel by horse to Monoanthos, we will walk from there," Reynard said.
"Aww, no one told me I'd have to walk," I said jokingly.
"Yeah, there'll be lots of walking," the archer said. "You should probably just stay behind instead."
"Nah, I'd walk for days without rest if it meant pissing you off," I replied with a grin.
"Just shut up or I might 'accidentally' push you off the wagon at full speed," he said, and that's when I realized that this trip was going to be really, really dull.

So, I decided to take a closer look at the people I was traveling with. Try to figure out what kind of people they were, and if I got really bored, maybe make up some stories about them.

At first, there was Reynard. He walked, talked and acted like a nobleman. Hopefully he fought better than one. He was a tall man, with a big moustache, which really was the first thing you noticed about him. It didn't help that he had red hair either. Made it look like two foxes were hiding in his nostrils, with their tails outside. Yeah, that sounds really dumb, but that's the kind of thinking you do when you're bored to tears. Anyway, aside from that, he looked really average. In fact, I think he got that moustache just for that reason.

Next was that ****ed arse. Sorry, I meant archer. It was pretty obvious that he was indeed an archer by the large bow he carried. He had short hair. Like, just-visited-the-barber short. Who visits the barber before they're about to go into some forest for who knows how long? And why didn't I do it? For some reason, I thought the arse/archer had the looks of a guard about him. Or a soldier. It was hard to picture him doing something that didn't involve fighting. Well, whatever he used to be, I knew It was going to be fun to annoy him. Annoying people is what I do best, after all. Blond hair, average build and height, a sense of humor not dissimilar from mine, and that about sums him up.

Now, the next man was an odd character. He was a small man, with large ears, and an even larger nose. He was quite skinny, and old, and whatever hair he had left was short. He looked more like someone's uncle than an actual member of their little adventuring group. He had a backback and a sack both filled with all kinds of weird items, too. Maybe he was some kind of scholar or archaeologist or something. Maybe they brought him along to help find and identify the amulet. Or maybe he's some kind of trap expert, because Reynard certainly didn't seem to have the brains to avoid traps. I hoped he wasn't a trap expert. That would reduce the chances of Reynard getting injured.

The last person was wearing a hooded cloak, so I couldn't say much about her. I could tell it was a woman though from... certain features. She was carrying a shortsword, and that was it. I assumed she wasn't an experienced fighter, because few warriors choose to fight with just a shortsword. It just doesn't seem efficient. I had no idea of what was under the hood. Was she beautiful? Was she hideously scarred? Did she have scales? Did she have a head? You'd be surprised at the kinds of things you can come up with when you're bored.

The rest of that trip, I spent either wondering what could be underneath the hood, enjoying the scenery or staring at the archer until he got pissed and tried to hit me.

Chapter 3: Side quest!

The sun was about to set when we arrived at Monoanthos. It was a small village, on the border of a rather spooky forest. Monoanthos, or "solitary flower". It was certainly solitary, it was the only settlement for miles, but it was definitely not a flower. It was the most boring, rural village I had ever seen, yet something about it seemed... off. There was no abundance of any resource in the area, the closest neighbour was miles away, and up until now, I didn't even know it existed. I don't see what reason someone could have for settling down here, especially with that scary forest right next to it. When we arrived, we were approached by an old man.
"Welcome to Monoanthos, travelers!" he said. "What brings you here?"
"I am Sir Reynard, leader of this group of adventurers," Reynard said, still on his high horse, and not just literally. "We seek an artifact in the nearby forest, and wish to stock up on supplies before we begin our search."
"We have no abundance of supplies ourselves, I'm afraid," the old man said. "And we have no use for your money. However... We may be able to spare some supplies, if you can spare some time."
"Very well, how can we be of assistance?" Reynard said, and I could tell he felt really important too.
"A child from the village has gone missing recently, we only wish to see him returned," the old man replied. "He has been missing for three days, and we fear he is lost."
"The forest is a dangerous place," Reynard said. "I fear it is more likely he has fallen prey to a wild animal, or worse."
"Oh, Ray, don't be so negative!" I said, and jumped off the wagon. "Let's at least give it a try. If we're lucky, blondie will get lost too. " As I said that last part, I gestured towards the archer.
"My name is Sir Reynard!" Reynard shouted, and paused for a moment. "We agree to look for the child, but we cannot guarantee a success."
"Excellent," the old man said. "The boy has never wandered off far before, so I hope he isn't far away. Every night that passes reduces the chance of finding him alive, so I would appreciate if you could begin searching immediately. While you search, I will gather whatever supplies we can spare."

We were given enough food for a day or two of searching, and then we went into the forest. Yes, we entered a dense forest no one in the group had been to before, as the sun was setting, with only enough supplies for a day or two. I did not like it one bit, and by the looks of them, the rest of the group felt the same way. The archer even tried to convince Reynard to wait for the morning, but nooo, "a child's life was at stake"! We all knew he did it for the reward, so I don't know why he bothered to pretend he cared. Anyway, there we were, about to enter a forest where we'd most likely get lost, or attacked by who knows what. And that's when Reynard got this "brilliant idea", sarcasm intended.
"If we want to find the child before the supplies run out, we will need to split up," he said.
"I really don't think that's a good idea, sir," the archer said.
"Well, I do," Reynard said. "We will split up in two groups. Albin, you go with the new guy. Gregor and Evangeline, you'll go with me. We will meet back in the village the day after tomorrow, at noon."
"Sir, if you leave me alone with him, I can guarantee that only one of us will leave this forest alive," the archer, Albin, said.
"I've made my decision, and I expect you to follow your orders," Reynard said, in a commanding tone. A bit arrogant too, but that's so common I wont even bother to comment on it any more.
"Fine..." Albin said with a heavy sigh as he received our share of the supplies.
"Seriously..." I said, as the others walked away. "Your name is Albin?"
"Don't say a word!" he said.
"What? It's a very nice name... If you're a dog," I said. I half-expected him to hit me, but he just turned around and started walking. He was carrying the supplies, so I thought it was best to follow him.

Chapter 4: Sidetracked!

We walked through the forest, which was getting darker, not only because it was getting later, but also because the forest was getting so dense the trees blocked out the moonlight. Amongst our supplies were some torches, and some flint and tinder, so we decided to light one. Every now and then, we left a marking on a tree, so that we would be able to find our way back.
"Did anyone ask what the kid's name was?" I said.
"No," Albin said. "Does it matter?"
"Well, it'd help if we had a name to shout or something," I replied.
"You could always go back and ask," Albin said. "And don't worry about finding your way back afterwards, I'm not going to wait for you anyway."
I was just about to reply when we heard a loud splash. We ran in the direction from which we had heard the splash, and found ourselves standing by a small lake. A really creepy one. It didn't help that it was quite dark, so you couldn't see anything beneath the surface. If anything the torch we carried just made the atmosphere more creepy. There was a very small island in the lake barely five meters out, with nothing but one single tree on it. What we did not expect to see, however, was a small piece of paper attached to the tree. As the moonlight wasn't blocked out over the lake, we could see the note pretty clearly, but obviously not clearly enough to read it from the shore.
"See that note?" I asked. "Could be from the kid."
"Oh, really? I thought it was written by a squirrel," Albin said.
"Right, why don't you swim out there and find out?" I asked.
"I'm not getting into that water," he said. "Could be all kinds of disgusting creatures in it."
"Yeah, but none more disgusting than you," I said. "We'll need to find a way across, though. He might've said where he was going."
"That tree looks like it's about to fall down," he said and pointed the torch towards his left. "We could speed up the process."
"Great, first I have to walk, and now I have to bring down a tree," I said. "Fine, let's give it a try."
Albin planted the torch in the mud, and put the supplies next to it. Then, we went to work.

Luckily, it wasn't a huge tree, so we managed to bring it down merely by pushing it. As mentioned before, it was already about to fall. When our little "bridge" was in place, I walked over to the small island and read the note.
"I've got some good news, and some bad news," I said. "Good news is it wasn't written by a squirrel, bad news is we still don't know where he went."
"What does it say, then?" Albin asked.
"'I know what you came for, and you should turn back. Many have searched for it, and none have returned,'" I said.
"I'm guessing it's not about us looking for the kid," Albin said. "That's all?"
"Yeah, that's..." I started, but just as I did, I noticed something odd. "Actually... More text just appeared at the bottom."
"Just appeared?" he asked, and it was obvious that he didn't believe me. "Just admit it, reading's not exactly your forte. What does it say?"
"It says you're an idiot," I said sarcastically. "Oh, wait, no, that's what I say. The note says 'PS: Thank you' but it doesn't say for what."
"Bring the note over here," he said, with a hint of confusion in his voice.
"Albin, where did you put the supplies?" I asked. I knew where he had put them, however, and I also noticed that they were no longer there. He looked around, and I think I'll skip telling you what he said when he realized they were missing. Suffice to say, it was the same word over and over again, and it was not a polite one.

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Cat: A strophe. (Silly poem)

I'm a cat, I'm king of the house,
So don't say the fault was my,
When I scratched your new couch,
'Cus it was U-G-L-Y.

I might've misunderstood the definition of a strophe, not sure, but still.

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Mirror, mirror (Short story)

Kyle was staring at his reflection in the mirror. He couldn't stand it. It was repulsive. And tomorrow was going to be his first day at his new school. He'd be introduced to all his new classmates, and he knew what they'd think. He remembered the last time he started at a new school, he had to stand in front of the entire class and introduce himself. He remembered the way they all looked at him, you could tell what they thought about him. And as he was looking at himself, he couldn't blame them. He leaned forward towards the mirror.
"You disgust me," he whispered to himself, but after he did, the reflection seemed to change somehow. The anger inside him was replaced with an uneasiness. The look on his reflection expressed a hate the likes of which he had never seen before, and it frightened him. He stepped away from the mirror. The reflection did not. It stared at him with the same hateful expression as before. Kyle ran out of the bathroom and shut the door behind him. He was sweating and his heart beat like crazy as he wondered what the hell had just happened. He took deep breath and told himself that he was probably just imagining things. It was getting kind of late, after all. He just wanted to go to bed and forget the whole thing ever happened. The problem was, there was a mirror in the hall on the second floor, which he had to walk by to get to his room. He didn't want to walk by it alone, but he didn't want to tell his parents he couldn't go to his room because he was afraid of his reflection either. He decided to go alone, he was probably just imagining it after all. He carefully walked up the stairs, and looked towards the the end of the hall. He saw himself in the mirror, terrified and sweaty. It was pathetic, really. He sighed, and started walking, and so did the reflection, as expected. About halfway through the hall, the reflection picked up the pace. Kyle wanted to turn around and run, but he couldn't. It was as if he had no control of his body. He walked towards the mirror, no matter how much he tried not to. He looked at his reflection, and it looked back at him with a menacing smile on its face. He was now standing in front of the mirror, face to face with his reflection. The reflection slowly moved his hand towards his pocket, and Kyle had no choice but to do the same. He couldn't run and he couldn't scream, and this feeling of helplessness was overwhelming. He couldn't even looked away. He could feel that his hand shaped itself as if grabbing something, but there was nothing between his fingers. He saw how the reflection pulled a knife out of its pocket, and held it in front of itself. Kyle did the same, but his hand was empty. They then put their hands next to their throats. Even though Kyle's hand was empty he could feel the sharp edge of a knife on his throat, and as he saw his reflection's mouth move, he heard himself speak.
"Are you happy now?" he said. Then his hand moved across his throat with a quick jerk, and Kyle fell to the ground.


This was my attempt at writing a scary story, hope you like it.


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I already had the chapter 4 lying around, I just hadn't posted it for some reason. I've got a summer job, so I'll be working and sleeping most of the summer. That means I probably wont be doing much, if any, writing. But since it was a month since my last post here even when I didn't have a good reason, I don't think it'll make much of a difference.

Happy new year imogwai!